AGA and MGM Join Force to Combat Adelson

The CEO of Las Vegas Sands, Sheldon Adelson, together with his Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling is still hard at work having drafted a federal bill to end the practice. However, the American Gaming Association together with MGM Resorts International have now joined together in order to fight back.

A new coalition has been formed to combat Sheldon Adelson’s attempt to have online gambling completely banned in the US.

The new Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection has been formed to fight any ban on internet gambling. The group is being led by MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren and bizarrely also includes Las Vegas Sands’ President Michael Leven as a board member.

Geoff Freeman, the AGA CEO said, “This new entity is dedicated to creating a regulated Internet gaming marketplace and preventing a federal ban of online gaming. The coalition will operate exclusively at the federal level, encouraging Congress to embrace regulation as the best means to protect minors, detect money launderers and eliminate a dangerous black market.”

MGM Resorts Senior Vice President Alan Feldman has described Adelson’s position as “absurd” saying it “would remove all law enforcement oversight and permit the unregulated black market operators the ability to grow.”